Sunday, March 05, 2006

Here we go again. Radical Muslims calling for Israel's destruction - or deportation back to Europe.

Here we go again. Well-meaning leftists (including many of Jewish lineage, if not practice) calling for "balance" and " fairness" in how we see the Middle East. Israel should remove her security fence (though bombings are way down) and give back all land that is not part of the 1949 truce lines or the 1947 partition - then maybe the Palestinians will believe them and come to the table.

Some church groups even call for divestment of investments from Israel, even though they are not sponsoring terrorism!

Here we go again. The UN sponsors a day of remeberance for Palestinian martyrs and unveils a map of Paestine without Israel!

We live in the Information-but-Ignorance Age. How quickly we forget our history! Here are some reminders:

Jewish men and women have a claim on this Land that is older than its current Arab occupants.

During the 19th and early 20th century Jewish settlers legally purchased land from the Ottoman-led landowners. Very few Arabs were disposessed if they were willing to partner with their new neighbors.

In exchange for an alliance during WWI, the British promised support for a Jewish homeland in Palestine, with Jew and Arab living in peaceful coexistence.

By the 1930s, this promise proved hollow and the British stopped allowing Jews to emigrate to their Mandate in Palestine in significant numbers.

At the height of the Holocaust in 1942-45, the nations of the world turned their backs and refuse to open their doors to desperate Jews.

Finally, in 1947, the UN, with the approval the the USA and USSR, offers a partition of this Mandate, with a Jewish (Israel) and Arab (Trans-Jordan, now Jordan) State living side-by-side.

By 1948, the new State of Israel is besieged by armies from all the Arab States. Cries of "Jihad!" and "Death to the Jews!" thunder throughout the"Arab Street". Israel tries to calm her Arab populace, but thousands flee, with the promises of a short exile and return to the land when the Jews have been "thrown into the sea."

Israel achieves a truce in 1949, and defends herself in 1967 and 1973, with the final Yom Kippur War almost resulting in an Arab victory.

By 1978, Israel and Egypt make peace - the Sinai is returned and a pathway forward for another Palestinian State is forged.

The Oslo Accords of 1992-1993 offer an emergent Palestinian State 97% of the West Bank and the Gaza. Nobel Prizes are awarded, but Arafat's duplicity and his ultimate aim of Israel's destruction stalls any progress.

Again and again Israel has shown forebearance, relocated settlers, offered terms - and all it does is embolden the enemies committed to her destruction.

We need a new leader for the Palestinians. A leader must arise from the ashes of failure and unequivocably commit to 1) Israel's right to exist securely and is full diplomatic relations with her neighbors; and 2) an end of terrorism and a williness to partner with Israel to devolp the economies of the region.

Israel is not perfect. She can be politically paranoid and her reactions to terror overdone at times. But Israel's moral and political superiority must not be ignored - it is a model of freedom and diversity in a region bound by conformity and enslavement.

Let's take time to get the facts and pray for peace. Let's refuse to buy the drivel proferred by the Islamofascists and Holocaust deniers.

Let's choose life and support Israel - AND a new Palestine that will be her friend.